Fear of Taxidermy. Don’t know where else to put this.

Something that had always perplexed me is my fear of taxidermy. I don’t know where else to put this. Taxidermy is a hobby so I figured it belongs here. So forgive me if it doesn’t fit.

Taxidermy is essentially the art of taking the skin of an animal and forming around a foam armature. The taxidermist does his or her best to capture the essence of the animal through various techniques. Some are better than others. You can find taxidermy at sports shops, taxidermy shops, restaurants, private collections and natural history museums etc. Its actually pretty common to see taxidermy in the Southern states because of our rich outdoor culture. To me the reason of my fear of taxidermy is lost to me. I can’t get to the bottom of it. Though I am quite fascinated by it.

It was worse when I younger. The sheer uncanniness of suddenly encountering an animal stuck in a static pose, alive but not, real but not, it sends shivers down my spine. And when In my youth it was definitely a shock to the system. I’d either run or stay stuck, frozen with fear i guess you can say. It’s like encountering something that is real and in physical reality but simply isn’t congruent with either the rest of the surrounding of the home nor nature as a whole. It’s like my brain can’t digest it properly. It’s a trip.

I have several theories as to why I’m like this. Though none are really sufficient. One has to do with DNA memory. Our evolutionary ancestors sadly had to live alongside wild animals that may have been proven harmful. The smilodon is a terrific example. Though most herbivorous animals are dangerous as well. Think mastodons and even large ground sloths. And it’s actually deeper than that. Millions of years of running from hungry dinosaurs. It seems the fear of other animals are deeply rooted in our DNA. Though this theory may have some small degree to do with my fear, I highly doubt most people ever think of such things. Nowadays we see animals more as a friend than a foe. Especially with children who have trouble making friends with other humans. I was one for sure. Maybe I fear taxidermy because on some level it’s like seeing the remains of a friend. Think about elephants who seem to honor their fallen by feeling the bones of other elephants with their trunks. Though that theory falls through because it’s more of fear reaction than actual sadness.

Its not just real taxidermy that makes me feel this way but replicas do as well. Even restorations of long extinct animals from natural museums. I remember when I was young and my family and I visited a museum. I quite liked the dinosaur skeletons and such, however I couldn’t go near the mastodon and glyptodon exhibit. They were these large, lifelike models that looked quite real and shocking to me. Though now that I’m an adult I can stand such things to a certain degree but now I’m actually more fascinated by the fear. The high strangeness of it. There’s just something about it. I can’t wrap my mind around. I don’t want to say I’m obsessed with taxidermy, I own none in my home anyhow. But it’s like a kind of magic. It’s an uneasy kind of energy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love nature and im fascinated by animals. And I appreciate the art of taxidermy and understand, aside from a hunter harvesting a trophy, that hobby taxidermists use animals that have already passed. I just want to get some kind of new insight or realizations into why I feel this way. Hopefully someone here has had similar experiences and maybe we can one day finally uncover the truth behind it.

Feel free to share your thoughts if you may know what’s going on or have had similar experiences. 😊